mark of Daniel & Charles Houle, London 1860, of campana form, the bowl with repoussé decoration of lily of the valley leaves and flowers around a cartouche engraved DOUGLAS GALTON TO ROLAND JOHN COLEBROOKE 22 JULY 1864, gilt washed interior, raised on a decorated pedestal foot, 7cm diameter at the rim, 11.5cm high, 4.6ozt

Honourable Roland John Colebrooke (22 July 1864 - 19 January 1910) was the son of the politician Sir Thomas Edward Colebrooke, 4th Baronet (1813 – 1890) and brother of the politician Edward Arthur Colebrooke, 1st Baron Colebrooke, GCVO, PC, DL (1861 – 1939). He was considered a socialite in London and New York and composed the piano solo entitled ‘Wheel of Fortune’. He died unmarried.

Sir Douglas Strutt Galton KCB MStJ FRS (2 July 1822 – 18 March 1899) was a British engineer. He was a captain in the Royal Engineers and Secretary to the Railway Department, Board of Trade. In 1866 he was a member of the Royal Commission on Railways and from 1869 to 1875 he was Director of Public Works and Buildings.

Galton worked closely with Florence Nightingale, and she routinely sent him plans of hospitals and nurses' homes she had been asked to criticize. He deferred to her completely on nursing matters, to facilitate more efficient nursing and better conditions for nurses.

He married Marianne Nicholson, Florence Nightingale’s cousin.

University of Bristol archives contains a group of letters, a few with Isambard Kingdom Brunel's pencilled answer, from engineers and politicians including Douglas Galton and Sir Edward Colebrook.